Gear casing



D. R. lSCHOLES.

GEAR CASING.

APPucATlcN FILED DEC; 1. 1921.

Patenaspt. 5, 1922.y

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

man STATES Pain-:rrr-` OFFICE.

DANIEL R. SCHOLES, OE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO AERMOTOR COMPANY, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CO RPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

GEAR CASING.

Application led .December n To all lwhom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, DANIEL R. ScHoLEs, a citizen ofthe United States, residingfatGhicago, in the tcounty of Cook and State of e Illinois, have invented a certain new andk useful Improvement in Gear Casings, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

My invention relates to gear casings and is of particular service when'employed in connection with the gear casing disclosed in United States Letters Patent 1,141,356, issued June 1, 1915 to LaVerne Noyes. The gear casing disclosed in this patent is especially adapted tothe housing of the power transmitting gearing of windmills. It is made in part of a hood or cover formed of a single sheet of metal supplemented by an inner flange at the base thereof to form a circumscribing groove for receiving the rim of a lubricant containing basin or casing -base portion which, in conjunction with the hood, completely incloses the gearing.

It has been observed that the thin and flexible sheet metal of which the hood is made is usually of wavy or irregular contour at its base, Where it rests upon the rim of the opening in the top of the base portion of the casing. I overcome this objection by means of a frame that is rigid in relation to the sheet metal and is preferably surrounded by the base of the hood to bring the frame into expanding relation to the hood base. The hood, being preferably upwardly tapering, effectively co-operates with said frame to efface the waves of the sheet metal of the hood. As this frame conforms in contour to the gear casing, it forces the base portion of the hood similarly to conform.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the frame is shaped in cross section in the form of an inverted U that furnishes the groove at the baseof the hood lwhich re- 45 ceives the rim of the base portion of the casing. y

I will explain my invention more fully by reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is la vertical sectional view illustrating the preferred form of my gear rim of the base portion of the- 1,- 1921. Serial N0. 519,148.

casing as applied to windmills, the gearing beingv absent; FigfQ is a side view with parts broken away; Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3 3 of Fig. l; Fig. 4 is an enlargement of parts of the sectional view of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the base portion of the hood and its strengthening frame 1n separated relation; Fig. 6 is a upright axis about which the wind mill head 2 may turn upon a step bearing ring 3 supported upon the lower column portion. The head 2 is enlarged into an oil chamber or basin 4, constituting the preferred form of base portion of the casing, and may contain lubricant for the gearing of the mill. The head 2- carries an upright stirrup 5 whose parallel branches constitute upright guides that are simultaneously received in a grooved antifriction wheel. The threaded stem 5 of the stirrup 6 passes through the top of the hood 7 and a nut 8 is screwed down upon the top of the hood whereby the hood is thoroughly clamped i'nposition.

The contour of the bottom of the hood substantially defines a parallelogram as does the contour at the top of the hood, the diagonal axes of the top of the hood intersecting at the axis of the tubular column 1 and being substantially perpendicular to the sides of the geometrical figure at the bottom of the hood. The hood is formed with eight triangular faces each of four of which being defined by the sides of the parallelogrammatic figure defined by the contour of the top of the hood and the` respectively underlying corners of the parallelegrammatic figuredefined by the contour of the ottom of the hood,fwhile the remaining The base of the hood and this ribbon,

four faces are defined by the sides of the parallelogrammaticfigure defined by the contour of the bottom of the hood and the respectively overlying corners of the parallelogrammatic figure defined by the contour of the top of the hood. vBy the formation of the hood described there are afforded two triangular side walls or'faces ofthe hood which are substantially parallel with each other and substantially parallel with the planes of taper slightly upwardly for the purpose of my` invention, these walls and the remaining six walls or faces of the hood being brought into very close 'proximity with the power transmitting mechanism carried upon the head of the windmill.

As illustrated, the opening at the top of the casingbase portion 4 is oblong and the opening at the base of the hood is correspondingly shaped.

In the process of manufacturing the hood a stamping of thin iiexible sheet metal is desirably made in the form illustrated in Fig. 7, this stamping including two eXtensions 9 that are folded into interlocking engagement, in the formation of the hood, to

constitute a seam with the interlocking formation illustrated. The upper end of the stamping terminates in four triangular wings 10 whose apex portions are provided with circular openings 11 that are brou ht into register when the stamping is fol ed, to receive the bolt 6, the wings 10 then jointly serving to form the top wall of the hood. I

As will be observed from the aforesaid patent to LaVerne Noyes, a circumscribin groove is provided at the base of the hoo, by means of a single ribbon of sheet metal that is as iexible as the balance of the hoobd.

y reason of the flexible character of the sheet metal, are both apt to be wavy or irregular in contour to make it difficult to fit the groove and the base portion of the gear casing. In carryin out my invention I employ a frame 12 that 1s shaped, in cross section, in the form of an inverted U. The groove 13- between the sides of the frame is oblong to conform in contour to and receive the oblong rim 14 that surrounds the opening in the top of the casing portion 4. The amount of sheet metal at the base of the hood is such that it may be forced to` conform -in eX- tent and contour to the exterior of/ the frame, it being understood that the base of .the hood is made to conform as closely aspos-v sible to the frame before the frame and hood are assembled. As the hood tapers upwardly the frame and the base of the hood have wedging engagement, and as the frame is rigid in relation to the sheet metal such frame is in expanding relation to the hood movement of the pitmen but I hood to a greater mamie basewhereby the irregularities in the sheet metal at the base of the hood are smoothed out to effect vexact conformity between the same and the base of the hood. After the expanding -action of the frame and hood has een carried to the desired extent, theseelements are brought into permanent assembly of the pitmen within the gear casingas is 'set' forth in the aforesaid patent. It has been foundthat the sheet metal of the hood is apt to be more wavy along the long sides of the oblong. By sloping one end wall 15 of the degreethan the other walls thereof the wedging action between the hood and the frame is increased more effectively to smooth the metal of the hood.

While I have herein shown and particularly described the preferred embodiment of my invention I do not wish to' be limited to the precise details. of construction shown as `changes may readily be made without departing lfrom the spirit of my invention, but having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent the following Y v `1. A gear casing including a base portion open at its Astop; a hood formed of flexible sheet metal; and a frame shaped in .cross section in the form ofan inverted U and receiving the rim of said base portion of the casing in the groove thereof and assembled with and surrounded hood, said frame being rigid in relation to the sheet metal of the hood andin expanding relation to the hood base. l

2. A gear casing including a base portion open at its top; an upwardly tapering hood formed of flexible sheet metal; and a frame shaped in cross section in the form of an inverted Uand receiving the rim of said base portion of the casing in the groove thereof and assembled with and surrounded by the base of the hood, said frame being rigid in relation to the sheet metal of the hood and in expanding relation to the hood base. '3. A gear casing including a base portion havin .an oblong opening at its top; a hood forme base conforming in contour to said oblong opening, said hood having a narrow side tapering upwardly; and anfoblong frame conforming to said opening Aand the base portion of the hood and shaped in cross section in the form of an inverted U and receiving the rim of said base portion of the casing in theY groove thereof and assembled with and surrounded by the base of theV of flexible sheet metal; an oblong,

by the base of' the hood, said frame being rigid in relation to metal vwith respect to which said frame '1s the sheet metal of the hood and in expandrigid and which hood and frame are assem- 10 ing relation to the hood base.. bled at the base of the hood.

4. A gear casing including a base portion f In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe 5 having an opening therein formed with a my name this 16th day of November A. D., surrounding rim; a frame U-shaped in cross 1921.

section and having its groove conforming to and receiving said rim; and a hood of sheet DANIEL R. SCHOLES. 

